What's the Plan, Stan?

Setekh stood silently at the edge of the scrubland, watching, waiting. Talyssa's words drifted through the cold air, clear and resolute, carrying a weight that told of the serious nature of her lesson. His molten eyes scanned the terrain, noting the deceptive calm that concealed the deadly quicksand beneath. Mother nature was a feisty one, that was certain.

As Talyssa spoke of strategy and planning, Setekh's thoughts turned inward. He'd hardly spoken since the first gathering, and there was no need to change that fact now. The landscape before them was a perfect metaphor for his own life: filled with hidden dangers and traps, where survival depended on cunning and foresight. Her anticipation mirrored his own; the thrill of the unknown, the excitement of mastering an environment that could so easily turn lethal.

In the silence of his mind, he contemplated the lesson ahead. Strategy and planning were indeed vital, but so was understanding one's environment intimately, knowing when to tread lightly and when to strike decisively. These were the basic laws of survival.